All the Difference
by Anaeli Faller
Summary: After Zack's battle against the Shinra Army, Cloud is devastated to find his best friend-slash-saviour dying before his eyes. However, what if... Zack survived? Would it make a difference? Or is the SOLDIER's fate unavoidable? Rated T. Light Clack fic.
1. Prologue

"Text." - Speech  
'Text.' - Telepathic communication  
_'Text'_ - Thoughts

**Author's Note** - So... basically... just my "What if... "  
It popped into my head while listening to CC's OSTs (which are _beautiful_, I might add, Especially "Price of Freedom").  
I'm gonna go write up a TEUF chapter after this...

**Plot** - What if, at the end of Crisis Core, someone was there to help Cloud and Zack? What if... Zack _survived_? Would it make a difference? Or is the SOLDIER's fate unavoidable?

**Warnings** - Um... blood, gore, swearing, etc. You know, the usual you'd expect in a T-rated fanfic. Oh... and story/character butcherment as well as OC cameos, though they're really... just supporting roles... (_really_... )

**Pairings** - ... Undecided. We'll see how (if) the story fleshes out. Feedback appreciated on this matter.

**Disclaimer **- Don't own Final Fantasy VII in any way, shape, or form. (Though if I could scrounge up the cash to make a real life copy of Zack Fair... MM! I would be _the_ happiest gal on Earth!

* * *

**Prologue**

He had to move...

He had to _get_ to him.

Zack was fighting all alone... all for _him_...

_'Zack... !'_

The last that Cloud remembered was trying to reach out to the SOLDIER, barely able to lift up his arm. And Zack hadn't seen him, had already turned his back and walked away. By the time he'd come back to his senses, away from that _blinding_ white light, it was raining. The sky was grey and crying. It could barely move, couldn't even stand, but he could crawl. And that was enough, all he needed.

Cloud began his struggle, making his way in the direction he was hearing the gunshots. The Shinra troops were still firing. Did that mean Zack was still alive? He was more determined than ever now to get to him, to help out the man who had saved his life. Using all the strength he could muster up, he crawled, ignoring the water and mud soaking into his clothes. He listened to the gunshots, drawing closer. At one point he heard a pained scream ringing through the air, heart stopping and body freezing as he recognized the sound of Zack's voice. He bit his lip, mentally cursing as he was unable to get any words to pass his lips at the moment.

_'Zack, hold on!'_

How much time passed while he crawled, he didn't know. At some point the gunshots stopped, the screaming stopped, and all was deathly quiet. It knotted his stomach tightly, the scent of blood filling his nose and almost making him sick. He was soaked to the bone, his usually-spiky, blond hair somewhat flattened against his head now. His arms were starting to hurt from the effort of dragging his limp lower-half.

He pushed on, however. He pushed on until he'd reached Zack's side.

The SOLDIER looked broken, several bullet wounds through his chest. His head was bleeding badly, indicating a severe head injury. He was barely breathing; and from the unusual calm and lack of light in his eyes, he was already on the brink of death.

_Zack was going to die..._

"Z-Zack," he managed to say, sky-blue eyes staring in disbelief. He winced as he heard the man breathe, saw the pained expression on his face that flashed there... and then faded, as if he was content with dying.

"For the... both of us... "

It came out so raspy, so pained, yet strong all at the same time. Cloud curled his hands into fists on the ground, inching his way closer to the fallen SOLDIER.

"Both... of us?" he questioned quietly.

"That's right... " Cloud wished he'd told the other to keep quiet, wished he'd tried to fish out a Phoenix Down or something, anything than just sitting there over him and watching him _die_. "You're gonna—!"

A sharp breath, pain flashing across Zack's face as he grit his teeth and squeezed his eyes shut, and Cloud found himself holding his own breath. "You're gonna... ?" he provided, hoping to help the other get out his final words.

_Final words..._

He watched as the SOLDIER brought his left arm up, felt the hand on the back of his head. He never tore his gaze away from Zack's face, though. Not until the dark-haired man had brought him down and into his chest, holding him there. Here, Cloud could barely heart Zack's own heart. He could clearly hear the raspy breathing, and he could clearly feel the man's blood on the side of his face.

"Live... "

The rain fell heavily now, and the two of them stayed like that for a while. Cloud had brought his hands flat onto the ground to somewhat support himself, so he wouldn't end up crushing the dying man.

"You'll be... my living legacy... " The SOLDIER wasn't even struggling to breathe anymore, just to talk. And all he could do was sit there and _stare_ at his friend as he _died right in front of him_.

After a while, Zack let go of him, and the blond lifted his head up...

_... but the SOLDIER had already closed his eyes..._

He began to panic, breath catching in his throat, and it took everything in him not to scream out in anguish. It took him a minute before he could actually try and fish out something from his item bag, anything at this point. Anything that might be able to stop the bleeding, that might keep Zack from dying—

"It's no use."

The unfamiliar voice came out of nowhere, startling him out of his search. Cloud searched, finally able to pin point the origin. A young traveler, clad in a cream-coloured cloak with red lining, a hood protecting his head from the rain, and some kind of wrapped, angled object on his back. That was all the blond could see of his attire, as everything else was almost entirely hidden by the cloak. It was obvious enough that he was holding something in his arms beneath the cloak, but again, Cloud couldn't see.

"What... do you mean?" he managed to ask, voice hushed and on the verge of hysterics. "Zack's... dead?"

The stranger only walked forward, and Cloud's panic increased tenfold. His eyes scanned around quickly, grabbing hold of the fallen SOLDIER's Buster Sword and lifting it. The instant he tried to lift it up, however, he found he could not: it was far too heavy for his limbs, which were just barely able to move freely now. He couldn't even get to his own feet yet.

Yet the stranger stopped, the ground at his feet glowing. Cloud grit his teeth, bracing for the spell he knew was likely going to come. When it never did, though, he opened his eyes in time to see a soft green glow shroud Zack's form. Sky-blue eyes widened in disbelief as the fallen SOLDIER gasped, pain flashing across his face. The blond immediately went back to Zack's side, the Buster Sword abandoned as he checked his friend for a pulse, head shaking slowly as the reality of it started to sink in.

_Zack was going to live!_

"He won't live long if we don't treat his injuries. Follow me if you want him to live," the stranger continued, head raised slightly, enough for Cloud to see a strand of dirty-blond hair beneath that hood. Before he could even comment, the cloaked stranger was already turning and walking away.

Needless to say, with quite a bit of difficulty, Cloud managed to lift the SOLDIER up, supporting his weight so as not to further injure him, and follow the stranger.


	2. Chapter 1

**Author's Note** - I promise, I really am writing up the next TEUF chapter... but this one's got plot bunnies running rampant. D;  
It's also taking a Cloud/Zack-ish direction in my mind, but it's also got some potential to be a Cloud/Tifa and Zack/Aerith...  
We'll see...  
Oh, and thank you for the reviews. Glad I could keep you interested, dudes/dudettes. ;)  
For this chapter, we had CC's track: _Encounter_ playing... you'll understand why soon enough. Eh heh.  
For the record, I may be tweaking some monster appearances... and probably locations... sorry 'bout the latter if I screw up.  
And so begins the trek of the 2k+ chapters... minus the A/Ns, of course. (Seriously, I write these after the chapter.)

**Warnings** - OC involvement, blood, gore, story/canon butchering, language etc. You know...  
This'll change chapterly (so not a word), just in case.

* * *

**Chapter 1 -**

It had been about two months now.

Zack hadn't shown any signs of waking up. Regular humans didn't take this long to wake up from near-fatal wounds normally, and Cloud knew SOLDIER's weren't supposed to take this long to recover.

_'Ex-SOLDIER,'_ he reminded himself, closing his sky-blue eyes. They were no longer part of Shinra. In fact, going back would prove to be suicidal, according to their cloaked saviour. According to the stranger, Shinra had changed in the past few years - five years, give or take. Cloud had no recollection of how much time had passed, only that the last thing he remembered before waking up in that Wasteland was being impaled on the end of Sephiroth's sword, Masamune.

He was so sure he'd died then...

Yet here he was, inside a makeshift shack with nothing but a makeshift fire for warmth in the center of the single-room building. Zack took up the only bed in the place, and the stranger had insisted Cloud used the ragged-looking couch in his stead. The blond had often tried to get the cloaked figure to take the bed instead, especially since he always left early in the morning, and returned much later in the evening. The ex-Shinra infantryman hadn't the faintest idea of what the man (or boy, judging from the fact that he was kinda short) was doing outside. He figured there must be something.

Truth be told, Cloud hadn't any idea on who their saviour was.

Not once had the stranger taken off his cloak. In fact, all that Cloud really knew was that he had a little girl with him. A little girl who, the blond noted, was quite... _eccentric_.

She was small, probably only four or five. Her chocolate-brown hair came down to about her chin, and the cut itself was rather choppy. She usually wore a pure white, long-sleeved dress with polyester lining over a black tank top and pleated, cream-coloured skirt. The black boots she wore were a few sizes too big, coming up to her knees and fitting snugly up top before pooling around her ankles as one brought their eyes lower. It was an odd style of dress, yet he didn't comment. Her name, he'd learned, was Sasha.

She was certainly far more talkative, child or no child. She usually drew in the dirt floor of the shack, humming some kind of tune to herself that could have been a nursery rhyme. Maybe 'Mary had a Little Chocobo' or something along those lines. Sometimes she would talk to him, other times attempt to get him to play with her while the cloaked stranger went out and did whatever it was he did.

None of it, in all honesty, made any sense. He was practically on pins and needles, wanting more than anything for Zack to wake up and explain just _what the hell was going on_. He wanted to know why he was still alive, how he'd ended up in the wastelands outside of Midgar, why Zack had almost _died_ trying to apparently _save_ him. He wanted to know who their saviour was, what his purpose was, what his plan, if any, _was_.

He wanted _answers_ to the thousands and thousands of questions running through his—

"Cloudy~!"

The sudden attack from behind snapped him out of his thoughts, a small grunt escaping him as he was forced to throw out his hands against the side of the bed so he wouldn't end up falling on top of Zack, as he was sitting right in a chair right next to said bed. Sky-blue eyes blinked once before he was able to register the fact that there was now some kind of small person resting its chin on the top of his head, tilting his head back to find Sasha's onyx-black eyes looking down on him.

... What was she even standing on to get that high... ?

"What's up?" he asked, slightly confused when all he received was a giggle in response. The girl was as mysterious, if not more so, than the cloaked stranger.

"Nothing~!" she replied in her sing-song voice, giggling again before she jumped down (giving Cloud a chance to realize she'd managed to climb on the back of the chair) and practically jumped in front of him, making quite a show of it.

"Nothing, huh?"

"Nothing~!"

It was another game she liked to play, he'd figured out quickly enough. There was always something running through her brain, something Cloud hadn't been able to figure out. She was a child, yet far more complicated than any adult he'd ever met. There was usually some kind of point to her games, though.

"Zack's gonna wake up soon," she suddenly proclaimed, causing his eyes to widen. It wasn't the statement, but rather the way she said it, the way she sounded so sure of herself.

"How... ?"

Before he had a chance to elaborate, she giggled and ran off to the other end of the room, and Cloud found himself actually getting out of the chair to watch her. Once again, she was now drawing in the dirt, humming that silly tune of hers, body swaying to whatever she was hearing in her head. This time, though, something in him pulled him to her side, examining the drawing that she was creating.

Except that it wasn't a drawing.

Sky-blue eyes widened as the so-called 'drawings' turned out to be a calendar, detailing events from what he was sure was from up to twenty-five years ago. The birth dates of Sephiroth, Zack, and himself were all included, right down to the second. Looking down to where she was drawing more details, he caught the last three entries she'd written down:

_October 0007, 4:02 PM: Big monsters attack; Cloudy fights them  
October 0007, 4:58 PM: Cloudy gets hurt; Sasha tries to help; Zack wakes up and helps  
October 0007, 5:13 PM: Ru-Ru comes back_

There were several moments, he noted, in which 'Ru-Ru came back.' It wasn't entirely difficult to figure out just who 'Ru-Ru' might be, but he doubted that was even a real name. It really sounded more like a nickname than anything.

"Did you... write this?" he asked, looking at the little girl. She paused in her work, eyes coming up to look into his own, looking like he'd asked some kind of silly question.

"Mm... I did," she replied, sitting back on her legs, hands resting on her knees.

"Is Zack really gonna wake up?"

"Yup!"

She grinned. It was silly, displaying all her childish innocence; and Cloud found himself smiling as well, despite the confused feeling now running through his very core. How could anyone, even a child, be this... _optimistic_?

A loud screech sounded through the air, and he swore his ears were going to rip to shreds at any second. No questions could be uttered as a loud _CREAK!_ sounded throughout the shack, directing his attention to the door as it suddenly burst inward. He grabbed Sasha, protecting her with his body from the wooden shards. He didn't dare look up when he heard the roof get ripped off, flinching as the shards dropped (thankfully harmless) on top of his back. Only when he heard a fierce roar did he look up, sky-blue eyes widening as a very _real_ dragon was perched above, looking ready to eat them and swallow them whole. And from the size of it, it probably could.

"What the hell's a dragon doing in a place like this?" he found himself whispering, his hold on Sasha loosening unconsciously. He didn't realize it until she had dashed out of his arms, reaching out to her in an attempt to stop her. The dragon roared, angered by the movement somehow, its head striking out at him, and it was all Cloud could do to roll out of the way and avoid getting eaten whole._ 'Zack,'_ he remembered, looking over to the ex-SOLDIER's still form, making a dash for it. Before he could even get anywhere near, however, the dragon's claw suddenly swooped through the shack, throwing up dirt and shattering the place to smithereens, knocking him away...

... and right at the feet... of a Behemoth...

It took every ounce of his strength to roll out of the way as the thing's claw came down, smashing the very spot he'd been in only seconds before. He scrambled to his feet, backing away as quickly as he could, unable to completely comprehend just _how_ he was supposed to fight _without a weapon_.

"Cloudy!"

His head turned in the direction of voice, finding Sasha over by the rubble, waving her hands somewhat frantically. He made to run over towards her, but stopped as she shook her head and started pointed towards the ground before planting her hands flat on it. Puzzled, he hesitantly looked down, stumbling back a bit as something long, shining, and surrounded by a giant water bubble suddenly shot out. He instinctively grabbed it, hands wrapping around what he was soon able to discern as a sword's hilt once the water melted away.

The Buster Sword's hilt.

Startled at the thing's sudden appearance, wide eyes looked back at Sasha, who made some kind of 'Shoo'ing motion with her hands and pointed behind him. It was then that he was reminded of the Behemoth's presence, letting out a small yell as the thing's claw came crashing down again, sending him flying and crashing a good few feet away. He used the sword to pull himself up, snatching it out of the ground and wielding it... only to have it weigh him down. The thing was too heavy. He'd never had any training with _any_ kind of sword, let alone one so big. As an infantryman, he'd only been given a standard-issue gun, and even then his aim had been on the poor side of things.

Still, as he looked towards Sasha, the girl cheering him on excitedly, performing what he could only assume as some kind of dance routine. Eyes momentarily glanced over at the shack, widening at the realization that it was destroyed.

Destroyed...

_Destroyed!_  
Zack was in there...

Cloud bit his lip, grip on the sword tightening as some kind of adrenaline coursed through his body. At first he flinched, the dragon coming back and landing next to the Behemoth as the two approached, almost within attacking range. Then it swept him away, and his body took control of itself.

The two creatures raised their claws, slamming them down into the ground, crossing one another's paths. Cloud jumped, however, and made a surprisingly high one at. He maneuvered the Buster Sword in his hand, getting a better grip as he plunged down first on the dragon, managing to slice off its head. It let out one final screech before dropped, lifeless body parts still as its blood oozed into the dirt. He couldn't help but stare, shuddering at the side of the red liquid and quickly turning his gaze away.

The Behemoth, on the other hand, was a different story. It pounced, the giant creature baring its teeth. The sword was lifted once again, blocking the massive thing before it could crush him. He grunted as it pushed back, however, digging him further into the ground and creating something of a crater due to its strength. Using every ounce of strength he could muster up, Cloud pushed against the monster, slashing and shoving it back enough for him to get out of the crater, facing it as it stood back up. Chills ran down his spine as the beast growled, predatory eyes filled with hunger.

He couldn't afford to be beaten just yet.

The air around him suddenly got hot, a bright flash of red his warning as he brought the sword up to defend against the spell. He yelped as he was knocked back, skidding slightly before he was able to push against the ground and flip back onto his feet, struggling to get into a defensive stance as it slashed again and again.

His arms were beginning to shake, for despite the rush of adrenaline, he wasn't built to wield a sword nor to fight against such a beast. After all, he'd just been an infantryman. He was amazed that he was even able to lift Zack's sword, let alone swing it around. And with some degree of skill, he noted mentally.

_'What's going on?'_

Cloud's luck clearly ran out when the Behemoth swiped particularly powerfully, knocking the Buster Sword aside. He briefly heard Sasha calling his name, sky-blue eyes darting between her and the beast just in time for him to raise his arms up as it swiped him aside. He was sent flying, a grunt of pain escaping as he landed rather painfully near the ruins of the shack. Judging from aching and the warm liquid he could feel on his head, as well as the nausea and faint feeling, that blow had managed to hurt him. Little hands were shaking him somewhat frantically, and he could barely open his eyes enough to see Sasha's worried face. He sat up quickly, regretting it almost instantly as he was nearly sent right back down...

"Cloudy!"

Except someone caught him from behind.

He would've been shocked or reacted better if he hadn't been struggling to stay conscious at this point, but that still didn't stop sky-blue eyes from widening as equally blue, though enhanced and glowing due to mako influence, met them with a grin to match the usual cheeriness. The familiar mane of black hair, the typical scar on the left side of his chin...

"Z-Zack," he managed breathed out, not surprised that his voice had given out on him. The ex-SOLDIER only grinned wider, winking at him.

"Hey. Long time no talk, huh? You look like crap, though."

A wave of warmth washed over Cloud as a green glow surrounded him, ebbing away most of the pain in his head. Zack seemed surprised by the sudden spell, scanning around the area for the source. The Behemoth's roar brought their attention back to the danger at hand, heads snapping at the beast as it crouched low, ready to pounce. The ex-SOLDIER whistled, one hand above his eyes as though he were trying to shade them.

"A Behemoth, huh," he remarked. "Don't see that every day, especially out here."

Cloud honestly couldn't help but smile a little at this friend's familiar attitude, his usual collected one. He almost never panicked, and it certainly was helping the situation a little.

Though they were still very much in danger.

"Alright. Just hand me my sword and I'll—"

Zack's eyes fell on the Buster Sword quite some distance away, behind the Behemoth. Cloud visibly saw the colour fade slightly from the ex-SOLDIER's face, confusion taking over as it seemed to finally sink in just _where_ they were and _what_ the situation currently was. Time for contemplation was over, apparently, as the Behemoth struck once more. The single wound Cloud had managed to inflict on it (which turned out to be a simple scratch on its left front leg) did nothing to deter it, and the three scattered, with Zack taking over the fight in a heart beat as Cloud dragged Sasha away from the battlefield.

"Go, Zacky, go!" the little girl cheered, giggling and squealing in delight. The blond had to wonder just what about the situation was so exciting, but as he looked over to find Zack looking at them, he figured that her enthusiasm was going to be enough to help them survive long enough. Long enough until 'Ru-Ru' came...

The ex-SOLDIER immediately got into combat mode, seemingly ignorant of the fact that he wasn't in his typical SOLDIER uniform anymore. Still, it was certainly something to watch the dark-haired man fight. Watching him duck and dodge, flip and jump, easily avoiding the Behemoth's attacks and the dragon's corpse. It didn't take long for Zack to get his hand on the Buster Sword, wielding it expertly, returning to the usual battle stance Cloud had seen only a few times before his five-year memory lapse.

"Hey, ugly! Have some of this!" Zack taunted, jumping high with his sword above his head, bringing it down fast as he managed to create a large gash in the arm it brought up in defense. The Behemoth roared in pain, retaliating instantly, but the ex-SOLDIER was quick to defend and used the momentum to land safely. The dark-haired man grinned, charging in again and sliding under its belly, creating a nice-sized gash. He ended up with few drops of its blood on him here and there, but it was a small price to pay as the beast howled in pain now, stumbling as it turned to face him, crouching low and ready to pounce. He easily fell back into his killing-machine routine, the elite fighter he managed to turn into.

A hack here, a slash there... the Behemoth quickly got covered in cuts and gashes, its blood pouring out as it continued to struggle, determined to eat the new opponent before it for a meal.

And then the exhaustion sunk in. It hit him like some kind of steam roller, knees buckling underneath him. It was all Zack could do to stick the Buster Sword in the ground, using it to keep standing, and even that was a challenge.

"Zack!" Cloud yelled as the Behemoth pounced, but Zack couldn't even lift up the Buster Sword up, let alone move out of the way.

Something, however, suddenly zipped through the air, a clear metallic sound sounding in its wake as it sliced through the Behemoth's neck like a hot knife through a stick of butter. Sky- and mako-blue eyes widened as the giant beast collapsed with a resounding _THUD!_, kicking up dirt everywhere. Sasha made a beeline for Zack almost as soon as the dust had cleared, giggling excitedly for some odd reason or another, and Cloud was inclined to follow the ecstatic child.

Zack was back.

Zack was _alive_.

_'But..._ '

"Oof! Take it easy, kiddo," the ex-SOLDIER chuckled weakly, watching Sasha run circles before dropping his head down, pulling himself to his feet. He struggled and nearly fell, but Cloud caught him first, supporting his friend. Their eyes met, both staring emotions swirling in both as reality began to sink in with the both of them.

Then Zack's eyes widened; and Cloud frowned in confusion before he was suddenly snagged in some kind of bear hug, struggling in the intense grip.

"Holy... Cloud! You're awake! I mean, you're walking and talking and... and _everything!"_

"Zack... need... air... !"

"Right, right, but... _Gaia_, do you know how long it's _been_ since I last heard your voice? I mean, holy _shit_, it's actually gotten deeper!"

Cloud was beginning to see stars, gasping for air when the ex-SOLDIER finally loosened his grip in time for the two of them to be taken back down to the ground. The blond struggled out of Zack's arms, rolling off to his side. The dark-haired man was laughing at this point, arms spread out wide on either side.

"Oh, man, I must've been out of it to actually miss that," Zack continued, sighing in content as he calmed himself. "Shit... can't move at all... "

Cloud pushed himself up into a sitting position, looking down at his friend. It was still... hard to believe. Remembering that day two months ago still gave him nightmares, each time waking him up. He'd had to check over and over to make sure Zack was still alive in that little shack, still breathing, still fighting to _live_... and now here he was, up and about (_'Well, lying down exhausted,'_ he noted to himself), and... and _living_. How was he supposed to react to _that_?

"Zacky's got a potty mouth!" Sasha gasped dramatically, onyx-black eyes wide and hands covering her what was probably a wide 'O' mouth. The two ex-Shinra employees finally remembered her presence, with Zack managing to lift himself up into a sitting position, staring at her.

Mako-blue eyes blinked. And stared.

"Uh... Cloud?" the ex-SOLDIER started, looking to the blond who looked right back at him. "When did you have time to make a kid?"

It was completely involuntary, but Cloud found his face heat up in an instant, a blush obvious on his otherwise-pale cheeks as he quickly shook his head, tripping over his words.

"S-She's not mine! S-She's—"

The large object from earlier suddenly zipped past them from behind, causing their attention to divert back to it. Sasha suddenly squealed in delight as she chased after it, where it stopped not even three feet from them.

Or rather... it was forcibly stopped by the dirty-blond youth now standing beside the two ex-Shinra employees, holding the flashy object-now-able-to-be-identified: a boomerang much, much bigger than the youth. It didn't have an overly complicated design, holding the stereo-typical boomerang shape but perhaps a bit less angled, making more of a 120 degree angle rather than a typical 107 degree one. Now that it was closer, Cloud and Zack could see that its edges were sharp. It easily towered over the youth and the two men, yet he clearly couldn't have been much older than sixteen. He was clad in a black, sleeveless turtleneck and brown leggings; brown, metal gauntlets covering his hand and arm up to his elbow; brown, metal grieves coming up from within his lighter-brown, couldn't-possibly-be-anything-but-steel boots (with some kind of ankle guard in behind the ankle that didn't _look_ entirely secure) and up to about mid-thigh. His eyes, too, were onyx-black like Sasha's, and he had a similar facial structure as the little girl (if she didn't have baby fat, any way).

The difference, however, was that his eyes were glowing with mako, however subtle it was.

The youth placed a hand on Sasha's head, smiling affectionately at the girl when she stopped running around him, before his face took on a serious expression as he regarded Cloud and Zack.

"Well... good to see you're awake, Fair."


	3. Chapter 2

**Author's Note** - I'm not updating too fast (or sporadically), am I?  
I'm really just writing this as they come to mind (though for some reason, this chapter was like pulling teeth, because I want to reveal _so much_ but _can't_ 'cause that would kill the _mystery_... or whatever nonexistent thing is here... )  
And no, I promise you these OCs aren't _Mary-frickin'-sues_. Just... oh, _god_... that sent chills down my spine. Gah!  
If someone/anyone wants an update schedule, I'll make one up (possibly). If not, I'm just gonna do what I'm doin'. Cool?  
And I fear that Cloud is horribly OOC... ugh... *facepalm*  
Oh. And as for what Zack and Cloud are currently wearing... well, it's not the SOLDIER outfits, but the outfit descriptions wouldn't fit in the story anywhere, soooo... I'll leave that up to the imagination. (Though you can imagine they're still wearing combat boots, ja?)  
Hrm... let's make these A/Ns shorter next time...

**Pairings** - Yeah... it's gonna be a Cloud/Zack thing... sorry. It's gonna be extremely light, though, and it won't actually show up for a long while (like... not for a LOOOOOONG time). Still, if that's not your cup of tea, I'd... you know, turn back now. And Blame Yuubinbasha. *facepalm again*

**Warnings** - OC involvement, blood, story/canon butchering, language etc. You know...

* * *

**Chapter 2 - **

The little shack was, oddly enough, very easy to reconstruct. Cloud helped the armoured youth while Zack, who claimed he couldn't feel his body at that point, sat resting against the Buster Sword while an ever-energetic Sasha continued to run around in circles around him. Once or twice, the ex-SOLDIER had attempted to calm her down and succeeded for a full minute or two, but the child had simply gotten up and ran around, jumped, even started drawing in the dirt. And miraculously, her pure white dress was only... off-white at this point.

It wasn't hard to notice that the armoured teen was strong. While Cloud managed to finally get the rubble out of the way, the youth had already managed to put up the first wall.

"So," Zack started as the two blonds worked, earning both their attention. However, it was the one with onyx-black eyes that the ex-SOLDIER was more focused on, and Cloud found himself pausing in his work to hear the man's questions. "Why don't we start with... your name. 'Cause you apparently know mine, and I'm assuming you know Cloud here." Zack had finally found a way to keep Sasha still, though it consisted of the child repeatedly playing with the dangling strand of his hair while she sat in his lap. Like some kind of _cat_. Ah, well...

"Ru-Ru is Ru-Ru!" the child stated matter-of-factly, giggling happily. Zack raised a brow in confusion, sighing when the child began playing with his hair again.

"My _name_," the armoured youth corrected as he propped up another wooden board up and tied it down, "is Tohru Kiroi."

"And the little girl?"

"Sasha, my sister."

"Cute. How come you two live out here?"

"Because we can."

"How is that even an answer... "

"Can your questions wait, perhaps, until _after_ the house is rebuilt?"

Zack reluctantly conceded, and Cloud and Tohru spent the rest of the time building in silence. Only Sasha's cheerful little humming seemed to break through it all, keeping them at least mildly entertained.

By the time night fell, they'd managed to reconstruct the house (minus the roof, which would require more wood as most of it had been obliterated with the dragon's attack). The bed and couch were really the only things that managed to survive, which was a surprise in and of itself. It could keep any gusts of wind out, and as it didn't look like rain would be coming anytime soon, there were really no complaints. Tohru had apparently gone into town for extra supplies anyway, so luckily damage was minimal. They built a fire using the remains of the chair, and more or less sat in silence as the armoured youth set it up to cook some 'half-decent food,' as he claimed it to be.

It seemed that no matter what, Sasha was bound to be playing around with _something_. It was a wonder she actually ate her food at all. Tohru seemed to be constantly watching her, making sure her food wasn't too hot for the little thing. Still, after the meal, she was soon fast asleep in Tohru's lap, his cloak draped around her.

Cloud... Cloud still didn't know _what_ to really say. He kept glancing over at Zack, who clearly had several thousand questions on his mind. He could only guess what some of them were: Where were they? How did Tohru come into play? Why was he alive? Truthfully, Cloud had these same questions himself. With Zack's survival, he knew he could find out why he was missing a good five years of his life and how he'd survived Sephiroth's attack.

Sephiroth...

The thought of the silver-haired monster made him sick, almost physically so. Flashes of Nibelheim burning to the ground, of the General losing his mind in the Mt. Nibel Mako Reactor, of finding Tifa and Zack injured, of stabbing him, of—

"Cloud?"

He snapped back to reality, a brief moment of panic washing over him when he couldn't move. A small shake from his left dispelled that, however, and he lifted his head up, blue eyes blinking once or twice to adjust to the dark before he noticed Zack's worried face looking at him. Cloud realized he was shaking and breathing a bit heavily, lying on the ground on his side, slowly wrapping his arms around himself in an effort to calm down. The little campfire Tohru had made had almost fizzled out, and the armoured youth was watching them from a short distance away, Sasha sleeping soundly on the bed.

What had just happened?

"He's still getting over Mako poisoning?" Zack asked, looking over to Tohru, who nodded somewhat stiffly. Cloud pushed himself up with some effort, curious now.

"When he first brought you, he collapsed almost as soon as he made it here. He slipped in some kind of vegetable state for a good week before he started being able to move around right. I've noticed he slips back into it every so often, though less and shorter periods of time."

Tohru folded his arms and muttered something under his breath that neither could quite catch.

"Gee. Aren't you friendly," the ex-SOLDIER remarked, rolling his mako-blue eyes.

"What is it you want to know, exactly?"

Zack opened his mouth to speak, but promptly shut it again. Cloud could understand why. Truthfully, even he didn't know where to begin with what to tell his friend, and he didn't even have all the facts himself.

"How long... "

Tohru looked up, onyx-black eyes visible only due to the slight green tinge around them. Zack shook his head, staying quiet for a couple minutes.

"You know," the ex-SOLDIER said, voice fairly quiet, "I don't even know what to ask."

"Then I'll just explain the basics of how you got here." The armoured youth began taking off his gloves and boots, tossing them aside none-too-gently. He apparently had gloves and socks beneath the two metal pieces of his armour. He looked back to the two ex-Shinra employees, eyes falling on Cloud, who stiffened slightly, before turning back to Zack. "I found you by following the sound of gunshots. It sounded like someone was getting kicked around pretty badly, and I figured I may as well help. By the time I got there, though, you were saying your dying words.

"Your friend here—" Tohru jerked his thumb at Cloud, who scowled slightly but stayed silent. "—was about ready to throw a fit. So I threw the biggest Cure I could just to get you breathing. Broke one of my materia thanks to that, but it kept you breathing long enough to get you here, where I could properly heal you up. When Spiky was in that weird vegetable state he was in, Sasha was the one who managed to keep him fed. As for both of your uniforms... well... I managed to guess at your sizes and got you some better clothes. Those SOLDIER uniforms stank to the high heavens, and they're not exactly the best things to walk around in these days."

"Don't tell me you threw them out!" Zack exclaimed, eyes wide.

At this, the armoured youth glared a moment then pointed towards Sasha's sleeping form, to which the dark-haired man seemed to get the hint and shrank down a little. "Spiky made me keep them."

"_Please_ stop calling me that," Cloud sighed in annoyance, glaring at Zack when his friend snickered at the nickname.

"They're under the bed and washed, so they don't stink," Tohru continued on, as though he hadn't heard Cloud. "I'm no tailor, though, and I wasn't about to find anyone willing to fix it up without blowing off my head, so yours is kind of obliterated. You can get it tomorrow morning and do whatever you want with it."

"Alright, alright... "

The three sat in silence for a long time, each lost in their own thought. Or at least Zack was, Cloud noted. And Tohru seemed to be waiting for some barrage of questions or something. the ex-infantryman sighed, bringing his knees up to his chest and resting his forehead on them for a moment. He honestly wished he could help Zack out somehow...

"How old are you, anyway?"

Cloud blinked, looking up and at Zack. The question was directed to Tohru; and had apparently caught the youth off-guard, judging by the wide eyes. Truthfully, he was startled as well, even if it was... the kind of question Zack would ask in a situation like this.

"Sixteen," the armoured youth replied slowly, narrowing his eyes in suspicion. "Why?"

"Curious. How old's the kid?"

"Five."

"How come you two live out here? Why not inside Midgar?"

"Zack," Cloud said warningly, already knowing how the conversation would end up. He'd taken the same path when he first came to the right state of mind, and Tohru had closed off even more if at all possible. Sure enough, a glance at the young boy showed himself falling under a cold mask, and Cloud didn't doubt that there was deep pain in his mako-black eyes.

"It's complicated. Let's just say Midgar's too dirty for us."

And with that, Tohru stood and climbed onto the bed next to his sister. No more words were allowed to be said on the subject. Cloud made it a point to shoot an annoyed glare at Zack, who looked utterly confused. He didn't blame him, but...

"You have no tact," Cloud muttered, keeping his voice quiet.

"Hey, c'mon... I've been sleeping for two months," the ex-SOLDIER chuckled, giving off a weak grin. "Cut me a little slack."

"Whatever... "

After a while, when it was obvious Zack was falling asleep, Cloud made him go sleep on the couch.

He couldn't bring himself to ask any questions just yet...

Part of him was honestly afraid of the answer, especially since the last thing he remembered was being skewered on the end of Sephiroth's sword.

Cloud sighed in annoyance, flopping back on the ground, hands clasped behind his head. Sky-blue eyes stared up at the sky, clouded by pollution due to the several mako reactors in Midgar. It was a shame, seeing the stars hidden because of it. Nothing like in Nibelheim, where the vast sky was cloudless and pure, and the stars twinkled with no hesitancy.

_Nibelheim..._

He rolled over onto his side, doing his best to shove aside the pang of pain.

When and how he went to sleep, he didn't know. When he woke up, he wasn't entirely surprised to find Tohru already gone to who-knows-where. Sasha was still sleeping peacefully on the bed, Cloud noted as he sat up slowly, rubbing at his eyes. He glanced around the little room, eyes falling upon Zack's still form on the couch.

Zack... who was curled up... with his back towards him...

Cloud would have thought he was still asleep, if not for the groan coming from his form.

Curious, the blond got up and walked cautiously to his side, brows knitting together in worry at the look of pain on the ex-SOLDIER's face. His arms were pressed against his stomach, which led Cloud to believe that maybe he was feeling some kind of ghost pain.

"Zack?" he asked, reaching down and lightly shaking his friend. "Are you—"

A loud - emphasis on _loud_ - growl suddenly came from the curled-up form, startled Cloud into retracting his hand, confusion written all over his face. He jumped as mako-blue eyes slowly looked towards him, a forced grin soon making itself evident on the being known as Zack Fair.

"When the hell was the last time I actually _ate_?"

Well... it wasn't an _unreasonable_ question. Cloud, however, had a hard time even trying to come up for an answer. While it was true they made sure to get some form of food into the ex-SOLDIER while he was unconscious, there was only so much they could put in him. It could hardly be said that... Zack really _ate_ anything in his unconscious state. It was probably this knowledge that had Cloud quickly gathering whatever food supplies (noting most of it was either bread or non-perishable soup) he figured Tohru wouldn't mind losing and giving them to Zack, apologizing fiercely.

"You hardly ate anything last night, though... "

"I didn't even know I _was_ hungry last night! Gah, you're cruel, not feeding me for two whole months... "

"I did!"

"Liar!"

The two stared at one another, both sets of eyes blinking. It was Zack who first broke into a fit of snickers, though pretty soon they were both laughing. Laughing... why? Laughing because they could, because it'd been so long, because they were both _alive_...

Any tension Cloud had felt around the ex-SOLDIER died instantly in that moment, and it became easier to be a little bit more natural around him. After a while, they more or less sat there, with Zack wearing a kind of goofy grin on his face as he ruffled up the blond's spikes.

"Really, though," he said, voice gaining some kind of softness and seriousness that Cloud didn't expect. "It's good to see you with some life in you again."

That brought all the questions flooding back, attacking and swimming through his mind. He couldn't tell which one would be the best to start with, which one would give him the right answer that he was looking for. His mouth, however, opened unconsciously, apparently already prepared to ask something—

"Ru-Ru... ?"

The childish voice brought him back to reality, following Zack's gaze to the bed. Sasha was sitting up, rubbing whatever sleep was in her big eyes. She still seemed kind of out of it, made obvious with the way she crawled lazily to the edge of the bed and out from under the covers, revealing her to be in an oversized white shirt that completely covered her arms and touched the ground when she stood. Both men watched her curiously as she wandered over to the food supplies, digging out a loaf of bread before plopping on the ground near the bed and nibbling on it.

"'Mornin', sweetheart!" Zack called out, successfully startling Cloud and catching the little girl's attention. She stared at them tiredly, blinking once or twice before recognition dawned on her face.

"Zack!" Sasha got up quickly, scuttling over to the two men, looking up in awe before giggling and smiling. "G'morning!"

"Say, where's your bro, anyway?"

"Out!"

Zack scratched his head, looking at Cloud who only shrugged. He really had no information on what Tohru actually did, and confronting him the first night he was aware of his surroundings didn't yield anything other than the youth telling them that 'Sasha knows you won't do anything, therefor I have nothing to worry about.'

Cryptic. As. Ever.

"Ah!" Sasha exclaimed before scattering off. She dug under the bed, pulling out both the two SOLDIER uniforms Zack and Cloud had worn when they first came there (Cloud noticed Zack winced as he saw the amount of bullet holes filling his shirt) and her own outfit, minus the white dress. She crawled underneath the bed covers, coming out a few minutes later dressed in her skirt and tank top. Finally completing the outfit with her boots, also from under the bed ("Is there some kind of bottomless pit underneath that bed or something?" Zack asked Cloud, who only shrugged in response as he really didn't know), she grinned to herself, clearly proud of her work.

She looked to them, bowing politely for a moment. "Then! Sasha will be right back!"

And she skipped out of the house.

"... She's a weird one... "

"You have no idea."

Naturally, the two followed after her. She wasn't anywhere in sight, but Cloud knew pretty much where she was going, having watched the girl pull off the same routine for about two months now. He ignored Zack's constant questioning until he saw the girl, stopping once he found her.

It was just a basic way to survive, he knew. Yet each time Cloud had seen her, it had still been odd.

She came outside only to gather water from a well nearby, one that apparently still had a water source and was within sight of the house. The pump itself was about her height, so she had something of a difficult time attempting to use it. Adding that onto the fact that she could only move the bucket with so much water in it, and Cloud was usually pretty eager to help her. Granted, the first few days of actually being _conscious_ didn't give him much of a chance to help, since he could barely move his limbs during that time. After about the second week he'd managed to help her, against whatever childish protests she tried to put up. He knew she was glad for the help, though, deep down inside.

Today was, however, different. She was leaning heavily against the water pump, head hanging and eyes closed. At once, Zack and Cloud ran over to her.

"H-Hey," Zack said, slightly cautious as Cloud pulled the girl into his arms. "Is she sick or something?"

"No fever," the blond replied, checking her forehead. Sasha stirred lightly, nuzzling into Cloud's shirt and gripping the material weakly, causing him to tense up a little.

"Ru-Ru... lemme sleep more," she mumbled. The two boys let out a sigh in unison; well, at least she was okay and just tired... apparently...

"More trouble than she's worth," Zack remarked, standing and dusting himself off. "And that Tohru kid just leaves her alone?"

"Apparently," Cloud answered, shifting Sasha into his arms properly so he could carry her better.

"So, she just... pumps out the water on her own?"

"Well, I've been doing it for her since I've been here... "

"Huh."

Zack shrugged before he stationed himself at the pump, effectively filling the bucket with water. "Never thought I'd end up doing this sort of thing again. Do you know why these two are even out here?"

Cloud shook his head. "Tohru never said anything. Yesterday was actually the first chance I got to talk to him after... " He looked away.

"After you woke up to find me dying?"

He nodded.

The dark-haired man lifted the bucket, weighing it carefully in one arm before apparently deeming it enough. The two made their way back to the shack, only Sasha's mumbled sleep talk breaking through the silence between the two.

_'Idiot,'_ Cloud berated himself as he tucked Sasha back into bed, taking off her shoes so she could sleep comfortably. _'If you keep brooding, Zack'll think you're weird. Just ask the questions you want to ask.'_

Easier said than done.

He mentioned he had several thousand questions to ask, right?

"Hey, Chocobo-head." The gloved hand on top of his head snapped him back out of his thoughts. He let his head get tilted back, so he was looking up into Zack's mako-blue eyes. "Your worry lines are showing."

"Chocobo-head?"

"Yeah. Your hair reminds me of a chocobo's! Didn't anyone ever tell you that before?"

The blond swatted away the ex-SOLDIER's hand, ignoring the chuckle the man gave him. "You're weird."

"And you're avoiding the subject."

Cloud couldn't deny that one. He ran a hand through his hair, sighing as he sat up against the wall. He didn't look up when Zack knelt down in front of him, knowing that he was waiting for him. For something... anything...

"Hey, Cloud... " Surprisingly, it was Zack who spoke again first. "You want to know, don't you? About what happened at the Mako Reactor."

He nodded somewhat stiffly, hands gripping the material of his pants. Looking up cautiously, he was surprised when Zack's hand came and brushed a blond strand out of his eyes, surprised by the sadness and pain reflecting out of those mako-blue eyes. Suddenly, he wasn't sure he wanted to know...

"Before I start, Cloud," the ex-SOLDIER began, deciding to sit back on his behind, leaning back on his hands as he stared up at the sky. "How old do you think you are right now?"

"Sixteen," the blond replied rather bluntly, giving his friend an incredulous look. What kind of question was that? However, his stomach plummeted a good distance as Zack chuckled, looking at him now.

"It's been five years since that freak show. You're twenty-one, I'm twenty-three... a lot happened during those five years... "

"Like what?" Cloud found himself interested and scared all at the same time, watching Zack intently. He could see the hesitation all over his friend's face as he looked back up at the sky, but he would have none of that. "Zack... tell me what happened."

"I dunno know if I can tell you yet, Cloud... "


	4. Chapter 3

**Author's Note** - Okay... let's see what kind of bullshit we can scrounge up today, hrm?  
Saw a video with FFVII's Last Order anime, though, using the song "Harujion" by Bump of Chicken.  
It was good, and admittedly gave me some more ideas.  
And my heart kind of... broke a little while writing this... X-x;  
Um... yeah, I don't even really have anything to say in this A/N...  
Oh! And I do read your reviews, I swear. SWEAR! They're a lovely form of encouragement. ^^

**Addition** - I'd like to wish you all a Merry Christmas, if you so celebrate it! Realizing this was gonna be done on the day of, I figured I'd incorporate a little something special. ;)

**Warnings** - OC involvement, blood, story/canon butchering, language etc. You know...

* * *

**Chapter 3 - **

_"I dunno know if I can tell you yet, Cloud... "_

_"Zack... " Cloud sighed, resisting the urge to rip his hair out in frustration. He looked right at the ex-SOLDIER before he stood, brushing the dirt off his clothes. He stepped a bit away from Zack, over to the door so he could take a peek outside. Not that he was really interested, and this showed when he looked back at the dark-haired man, who still had his back to him at this point. He was standing as well now.  
_

_"I can't tell you everything at once. You're not prepared for that, and neither am I, really."_

_"Then just tell me what you can."  
_

**xXx**_  
_

"Alright, slackers. Time to earn your keep."

"What? Oh, c'mon, it's not like we haven't done nothing... "

"_No_, but you're eating me out of house and home. Which, in case you hadn't noticed... is kinda small. I can take care of Sasha and me easily, but with you two here it's getting harder. Either get out or find some work to do."

"You are so _not_ a friendly kid!"

Cloud sighed as he listened to Zack and Tohru argue, mindlessly helping Sasha with her hair as the little girl had asked. For whatever reason, the armoured youth and ex-SOLDIER just did _not_ get along. Maybe it was the fact that Tohru wasn't giving them much of a chance to get to know him, or maybe it was something else entirely. He didn't know.

As he raked his fingers through Sasha's hair gently with one hand, the other holding her little brush, he couldn't help keep his mind from drifting over his conversation with Zack. Contrary to what his mind thought, he'd only just heard about everything yesterday. No... not everything... just the bits that Zack had been willing to share. And even then, the ex-SOLDIER had seemed so disturbed and reluctant.

He didn't blame him. Not after what he heard.

**xXx**

_"I don't really know what happened after you attacked Sephiroth that second time. I saw you get stuck on the end of his sword, and I seriously thought that was the end." __Zack took a deep breath, running a hand through his hair, and Cloud could tell this was difficult for his friend. He ghosted a hand over where he knew Sephiroth's sword had struck._

_"I knew you were alive when I could still hear you, though," the ex-SOLDIER continued. He turned to look at him, and Cloud felt himself tensing at the look in those mako-blue eyes until they were turned away and closed. "After that I kind of blacked out. Everything from there was a blur, but sometime shortly after I managed to see Hojo and his men take you on a stretcher. You weren't breathing and I... seriously thought you were dead."_

**xXx**_  
_

"You two," Tohru declared, pointing at Zack specifically, looking much more intimidating than the ex-SOLDIER at this point, "are going to come with me into Midgar. And you're going to find jobs. Got it?"

Silence... Cloud actually got up, curiousity evident on his features, when he was done with Sasha. The little girl was gigglign and saying her thanks excitedly, but the blond was focused on the ex-SOLDIER, his friend...

"Wait, Midgar?" Zack asked, so longer showing any signs of annoyance or anger. In fact, Cloud noticed, he seemed... surprised. "You mean, we're outside of _Midgar_?"

"Yes, you idiot, we're outside of _Midgar_."

**xXx**

_"When I came to again... we were in Hojo's lab... "_

_"Hojo's lab?" Cloud wasn't sure he heard right. Why would Hojo even want them?_

_"Yeah... the sick bastard used us as specimens for some hair-brained experiment. You were still alive, and... well, I was happy, I guess. Happy that you were alive." And it showed, even through that grim face that Zack was making.  
_

_"To be honest, I... couldn't keep track of time in that place at all. When they put you in the mako tank next to me, they started... the experiments... "_

**xXx**

"Why didn't you say so earlier!" the ex-SOLDIER exclaimed, just about startling everyone in the shack. Even Tohru looked surprised at how close the older male was to him.

"You never asked," the armoured youth replied slowly, frowning in confusion.

"That doesn't mean—! Oh, who cares, we're outside of _Midgar!_ Cloud, we made it!"

Cloud knew he should've probably moved a bit faster when Zack advanced on him, but the man had been, after all, a First Class SOLDIER. He was amazed he could even keep his footing when Zack threw an arm around his neck, attempting to squirm out of his grasp as he was all but _crushed_ in probably one of the most ecstatic hugs he'd ever seen. The laughter and huge grin on his friend's face, however, was enough to tell him that it was indeed a very, _very_ good thing they were outside Midgar.

... Right?

"What's wrong with you?" Tohru asked before he sighed in exasperation and just put a hand on his head, shaking it. "On second thought, don't answer... I'm not sure I want to know... "

**xXx**

_"After about five years - and I learned that a lot later, mind you - I managed to get us out," Zack continued. The two of them were sitting on the couch now, with Cloud watching him. He'd had to convince his friend to sit, because he'd gotten so restless while standing. That, and it was just overall better to explain things while sitting. And it did seem to help. "You were out of it the whole time. Mako-Poisoning and all... and whatever else it was Hojo stuffed into you." He paused, bringing mako-blue eyes up to look at the blond. "Are you sure there's nothing you remember after Sephiroth... you know... "_

_Cloud searched through his memories, trying his very best. Five years was a long time to miss. All that he could really come up with, though, was mostly a blur of fuzziness and green... although..._

_"I remember... that truck ride we took to get here," he replied, missing the wide eyes Zack was giving him now. He frowned, eyes closing for a moment as he tried to recall what else. Oh! "And yeah, we are friends," he added, giving the dark-haired man a smile and receiving a grin in return._

_"Knew it!"  
_

**xXx**

"Where are we going?" Cloud asked as Zack promptly packed up all of their things, finishing with hooking the Buster Sword onto his back.

"Well, I've got this girl waiting for me in Midgar," he said, and Cloud felt some part of him drop a little at the realization. Now that he remembered, Zack had always been a ladies man (according to rumours he'd heard, anyway). He figured this was where they were going to part ways, seeing how there was no real reason for the two of them to stay together. He was pleasantly surprised, however, by a hand on the top of his head. Sky-blue eyes blinking, he yelped as Zack proceeded to give him a noogie.

"What the hell, Zack!"

"Stop lookin' so glum! You're coming with me, you know!"

Blink. He looked up at his taller friend, still wearing that goofy grin. "I am?"

"Well, yeah." The ex-SOLDIER shrugged. "I mean, I didn't bring you along for no reason. Well, no... it's mostly that nobody deserves to be stuck with Hojo for the rest of their lives, but!" Zack pointed at Cloud, causing the blond to stop struggling since he wasn't under attack anymore. "You and me, we're buddies! So we're gonna go together, and we'll start up a business of our own. We'll be an Odd-Jobs team!" Then he released the blond and folded his arms, thinking for a minute about something before nodding. "Plus, Aerith wants to meet you."

"Aerith?" he questioned, straightening up.

"My girl! And," Zack continued, pointing behind him at Tohru and Sasha sitting next to the bed (who Cloud was sure his friend had forgotten about), "we're taking them with us."

"No," Tohru flat-out replied, cuddling Sasha close to himself.

"Oh, come on. This is no place for a couple of kids to live!"

"Like you're that much older... "

"I'm twenty-three, thanks!"

**xXx**

_"There's... There's still something else I need to know," Cloud murmured, diverting his gaze away. A knot was quickly forming in his throat, but he needed to ask..._

_"What's up?"_

_"What... happened to Nibelheim?"_

_If he had looked up, he might have caught the reason behind Zack's long pause. He figured it was just hard for the ex-SOLDIER to tell him, though._

_"It's... It's gone, Cloud. Burned to the ground... "_

_"I... I see... " He tried to keep his voice strong, he really did. It tried to ignore the fact that it came out weak, forced, at that moment. He hadn't had any hopes, anyway. He'd seen his hometown being burned, seen the damage that Sephiroth had inflicted. It was all gone... his home, his mother... Tifa, too..._

_Before he knew it he had arms around him. Big, strong arms that pulled him in, a friendly, supportive embrace that he found himself sinking into._

_"Let it go, Spiky. It's okay."_

_And he did. Not all at once, since he didn't want to wake Sasha up... but he let the tears flow.  
_

**xXx**

Zack sighed in frustration, running a hand through his hair and muttering under his breath. It seemed Tohru was completely immune to the ex-SOLDIER's personality, which normally drew in everyone around him. Cloud had to admit, though, the armoured youth was... rather strange.

"Come on, at least check it out?" the dark-haired man tried again, this time from a different approach. Glowing black eyes just continued to stare at him while Sasha seemed determined to play with her brother's hands. "Aerith's a real nice girl, and she'll love you! So will her mother, for that matter. And think of Sasha! She'll actually get a decent meal and place to sleep, and she won't have to be all alone while you're out doing... whatever it is you're doing." A pause, one in which Zack and Cloud had the same question running through their minds, though it was the former who voiced it. "What _do_ you do, anyway?"

"None of your business." Tohru, however, sighed, burying his face in Sasha's hair. The little girl had been awfully quiet as of late, though her curious eyes had intently followed the conversation. Now, though, she frowned, crawling out of Tohru's grasp, much to the teen's surprise. She cautiously approached the two former Shinra employees, mainly Cloud.

"What's up?" the blond asked, slightly unnerved with the way those childish black eyes were looking at him.

"Are Cloudy and Zack... going away?" Her little voice was tinged with a little something that really, only a person made of ice could _not_ feel the guilt seeping through their being.

"Y-Yeah. We should get going now... we've stayed here long enough."

Tears. The little girl almost instantly began sniffling, tears pouring out of her eyes even though she tried so hard to hold them. The whimpers alone were enough to make their heart break (again, only a heartless being made of _ice_ could ignore a child in need), and all he could do was kneel down and awkwardly pat her on the back. He did _not_ expect for her to slam into his chest (and knocking some of the wind out of him, but at least he didn't lose his balance) and cling to him as though her life depended on it.

Cloud looked from Zack and Tohru, practically _begging_ them to do _something._ For reasons unknown to him, she'd apparently formed a bond with him. Maybe it was because he had the same kind of hair colour as her brother, or maybe it was because... he didn't even want to think down that path. He wasn't too good with kids, though, especially taking into account his crappy his childhood had been.

"Hey, c'mon, kiddo, we'll visit," Zack assured. Sasha sniffled a little bit more, peeking out slowly to look at the ex-SOLDIER.

"I wanna go," she murmured, so quiet that it was a wonder anyone actually heard her.

"Sasha, be reasonable," Tohru said gently, apparently trying to gain some control over the situation. However, he was instantly shot down as the little girl rounded on him, anger and frustration evident as she swelled up a little. It was rather humourous... or would have been, if she didn't burst out soon after.

"I wanna go, I wanna go! Ru-Ru is always gone, and I wanna go! Cloudy always plays with me an' Zacky is really nice and cool! I don't wanna stay here all alone! I wanna go play an' meet Aerith an' be with Ru-Ru, an'—!"

Her voice had steadily gotten more and more unstable, higher, childish, until the tears became too much to bare and she just broke down into a crying fit, trying uselessly to wipe them away. Cloud didn't dare say a word, partially wondering if breathing was okay, and glanced to Zack who seemed to be having the same idea. The two exchanged a look before he turned his sky-blue eyes to Tohru, he seemed... stunned? Heartbroken? Those two, plus something more... he just couldn't quite place it. The sight itself was comical, to be honest. After all, how often was it that a girl of no older than five, under four feet tall, screamed her little heart out (to the best of her ability)?

No child should have to do that. And it seemed that for all the toughness he showed, even Tohru knew that, though he must have forgotten some important lesson somewhere along the line. The teen approached his kid sister, kneeling and pulling her into his arms, holding her tight. He'd forgotten about Cloud and Zack, which was just as well.

"Let's go wait outside," Cloud suggested, standing up and already making his way to the door as quietly as he could. And Zack followed.

They shouldn't intrude, after all.

**xXx**

_"So... what kind of effects did the mako have on... us?" Cloud hesitated on asking. He could already relatively guess that one effect was the inability to age, as Zack didn't look a day over eighteen. If five years had really passed... there would have been some kind of aging sign, he was sure._

_"Well... for one thing, no aging. That's kinda a plus, though, right?" Zack grinned, confirming what he'd guessed at already. The dark-haired boy (man-boy?) let the grin slide off his face as he resumed the seriousness of their topic. "I was already pretty filled up with mako already, but you on the other hand... heh. I don't know if you've noticed, but your eyes are glowing about the same as mine—" (Which, now that Cloud noticed, were a lot more blue-violet than he'd initially remembered) "—maybe a little bit more. Not nearly as bright when I first got you out, but still pretty bright. You'll be able to see in the dark better, hear things better... pretty much, just sense things better."_

_"Kind of like a SOLDIER?"_

_"Kind of... except with maybe ten times the normal amount. You'll probably feel a little lighter, and you can probably pick up something like the Buster Sword now and swing it around easily. Wait, scratch that - you already _did_."_

_"On accident!"_

_"Still, you managed. Hm... oh! You won't really feel cold, but you might get overheated. I dunno - I don't get that, but I've heard others do. Um... "_

_Zack scratched his head, looking down at the couch. Then he sighed, looking up after a moment to grin sheepishly at his friend. "It's weird, having to explain stuff again."_

_"Sorry," Cloud said quickly, biting his lip._

_"Don't be! Sheesh, Chocobo, you don't have to apologize for wanting to know things! Especially when they concern your body."  
_

**xXx**

It took a little while, but soon they were off. Tohru had agreed that moving would probably be in Sasha's best interest, though he hadn't stated specifically what he'd be doing once in Midgar. From deductive reasoning alone, he obviously had a job somewhere (whatever it was a teenage boy could do in a city, anyway).

Once within the borders, they were... rather pleasantly surprised. Sure, they'd entered through the slums, but... it was rather lit up. Lights of various colours streamed here and there over shop windows, a reef hanging on a few doors. It still had that slum feeling to it, but... it was more... what's the word...

Festive?

"It's Christmas," Tohru explained, seeing the puzzled expressions on Cloud and Zack's faces no doubt.

"What? No way!" Zack suddenly became frantic, messing his hair up into oblivion. "Dammit... I don't even have a gift... she'll kill me for not showing for years, but she'll really kill me if I don't get her something... well, no, she won't, but... ah, dammit... "

"And there he goes into his own little world," the armoured youth sighed as Sasha giggled beside him, looking at Cloud. "At least you're halfway normal."

"I guess?" Really, the ex-infantryman couldn't help but chuckle a little at his friend. It was certainly entertaining, watching as Zack seemed to be going through some internal struggle. Still, if they wanted to get anything done (or started, for that matter), they should probably start... now. "How about we find her first, Zack?"

The ex-SOLDIER looked up, looking over at the three (his hair retaining its original shaping somehow). He folded his arms across his chest in thought. "You know, maybe we should start from there."

"Where does she live?"

"Sector Five slums. She's usually at the church there... "

"We're in the Sector One right now," Tohru informed. "So all we have to do is cut through here. I need to stop by the store, anyway."

"... Why?" Zack questioned. The teen merely looked away, looking rather disgruntled.

"I'm not gonna walk in on people I've never met and impose on them. I'll provide whatever food and water Sasha and I need. And since it'll be easier now that I don't have to keep repairing a house that gets smashed to smithereens every other day, there's no reason not to."

"You're one strange kid... "

"I'm not a kid!"

"Right... "

Zack either didn't notice it as Tohru placed a hand over the boomerang he concealed on his back or didn't care, especially when he simply set about to lead them through the slums. Or at least, that had been the intended plan until Cloud noticed they were missing someone from their group. He frowned, searching the area around them.

"Where's Sasha?" he asked out loud, looking over to the other two. It slowly clicked amongst the three, though Tohru was surprisingly... well, not calm, but he certainly wasn't as ballistic as he expected the sibling to be. The teen cursed and ran a hand through his hair, and while he was visibly shaking...

... Did this happen often?

"This is why I don't _take_ her to Midgar," Tohru muttered under his breath, though the two could still hear him, and he likely knew that.

**xXx**

_"Mind if I ask a few questions now?" Zack asked._

_"Of course," Cloud answered, eyes a little wide with surprise._

_"How're you feeling?"_

_The blond had to think for a minute: he didn't want to appear weak in front of Zack, especially after hearing he'd had to be dragged around for a year or more._

_"Cloud... I'm serious. Anything that doesn't feel right, tell me. You were dunked in a tank of mako unprepared, and you handled it about as well as you do your alcohol."_

_At that Cloud frowned. "I'm not _that_ bad with alcohol... "_

_"I'll let you say that when you can handle a shot of Kalm Lite. Now _spill_!"_

_He knew the battle was lost, finally conceding, though he took his gaze away from Zack. "I'm still stiff, and sometimes I can't move right away after waking up. Nothing usually bad, though."_

_"That's it?" the ex-SOLDIER prodded._

_"That's it," the blond replied, not really sure what else there really was to mention._

_"Alright. I still wanna get you to a doctor, though, once we get to the city."  
_

**xXx**

"Woah. Easy there."

He hadn't even noticed when he tripped until the last moment, really. He blinked back the fuzziness that had apparently started growing in his head, lifting himself up when he was sure he had some degree of strength over his body, placing a hand to his head. His helper - Zack, he realized - didn't seem to let him go all too easily. He seemed to be frowning, actually.

"That look doesn't suit you," Cloud murmured (_hadn't he intended to speak it clearly?_).

"What's wrong?" Zack asked, concern laced in his voice.

"Dunno. Swear I was fine a second ago... "

"He still has an unnatural amount of mako in his system." Tohru... that was Tohru. Sure enough, when he lifted his head (_why was it so _hard _all of a sudden?_), the teen was staring at them, onyx-black eyes staring right into his own. "The pollution isn't helping him. He'll recover more slowly if you keep him in the city. You sure you want to keep him here?"

"I'm _fine_," Cloud said sharply, pushing himself away from Zack's support before the ex-SOLDIER could say anything. The action didn't come without a little stumbling, but he managed to regain his own footing. He didn't need to be dragged around anymore (_what made him suddenly so irritable?)_. "Where's Sasha supposed to be, anyway? You're not panicking, which means you obviously know."

The teen rolled his eyes, turning and beginning to lead the way again. After shooting down Zack's concern with a scowl of his own, they set off after him. They realized after a little while that they were getting deeper and deeper into Sector Four, and eventually found themselves near the entrance to Sector Five. There was a loud, _loud_ commotion going on here, and closer inspection showed that there was a stage set up somewhere near the entrance to Sector Five. It was odd, but not uncommon, to see some celebrating the holidays in the Slums, no matter how little it was. Zack seemed especially curious (likely because he hadn't been to Midgar for five or six years... Cloud didn't know anymore), and Cloud had to admit that he was interested in the little performance going on. It seemed there was a band of sorts playing. No one looked overly-dressed or anything, most wearing rags or dirty clothes.

Tohru's cursing, however, brought their attention to the little ball of white dancing around woman in pink.

Both former Shinra employees looked at the teen.

"You really suck at raising a kid, you know that?" Zack commented.

"Shut up... "

Sasha seemed to have spotted them after some time, gaining one of the most shocked expressions on her face before dashing over, practically launching into her brother's arms. The two Kiroi siblings shared a moment of reunion before the teen set the little girl down, scowling down at her. Sasha seemed to get the hint almost immediately, shifting uncomfortably on her spot before dashing behind Cloud (_'Why me?'_ he wondered curiously; Tohru's glare was starting to burn through him, though).

"Now, now, it's alright." The woman in pink walked over, her long brown hair in a braid and a flower basket in hand. She had a friendly smile (and was strangely familiar for some reason Cloud couldn't put his finger on). "I found her before she got carted off by some weirdos. She's really growing up fast, but she's still got that curiousity in her."

"Yeah, I know," Tohru grumbled. Clearly, the teen knew the woman.

"Who're these two?"

"The freeloaders I told you about."

"Oh! Nice to meet you, I'm—"

Her big green eyes had traveled amongst them, falling immediately upon Zack, her smile instantly wiped off her face. Looking back at his friend, Cloud noticed that his friend, too, had a look of similar shock. It didn't take much of an effort to put two and two together.

"Zack... ?"

The ex-SOLDIER stiffened, eyes shifting away before he finally looked right at her, grinning weakly as he put a hand behind his head. "L... Long time no see, huh, Aerith?" Obviously, he was having a hard time keeping his gaze on her, for he looked away.

"You're alive... "

Cloud didn't dare move or say anything, especially when the flower girl all but discarded her basket as she practically tackled Zack in a hug, arms thrown around his neck. He was quick enough to balance his weight and catch her, arms wrapped around her waist, but that didn't stop the sheer look of surprise from dawning on his face as she buried her face in her chest. And suddenly he was swept with emotion (Cloud swore, _swore_ he saw tears beginning to form in the ex-SOLDIER's eyes, but he buried his face into Aerith's hair far too quickly to be too sure of it).

"I knew you were alive!" Her voice choked, tears streaming from her eyes. "I just knew... !"

"Sorry it took so long to get back."

Cloud couldn't help the smile that graced his face when he watched the happy couple, looking away and diverting his attention in an effort to give them some amount of privacy. His eyes ended up falling on Sasha who looked up at him, smiling as if she'd known all along what was going to happen.


	5. Author's Note

**Yes, yes, I hate doing this, blah blah, but!**

**This a note saying that no, I'm not dead, and yes, I will come back to this story. I haven't neglected it. Just that between dealing with increased depression, college, and work, I've gotten more than a little busier than I was in high school. The only reason Taking Flight exists is because it's a simple freewrite for when I need a break.**

**I do want to finish All The Difference. It's still an interesting concept to me, and it gives me a chance to furthemy develop my characters in ways I haven't before. All I can do, however, is ask that you wait just a little longer.**

**Here's hoping the summer is a bit more merciful!**


End file.
